You just forked out your hard earn money and paid a web designer to create a brand new site that you hate as soon as you see it. Its a terrible feeling that is, unfortunately, all too common. Business owners are learning how important websites are for their success but finding the right design firm is still a relatively new concept. And when the goals and ideas of the client don’t match those of the designer you often find yourself sorely disappointed.
So what do you do when you realize that you hate your website? You can’t afford to get a new designer right away but you don’t want your customers to see what you currently have online. It is a tight spot. In this post I am going to show you a few ideas that will hopefully help some people out.
Who is to blame?
Before I get into the actual tips it is a good idea to play the blame game for a few moments. And while I do not believe that this is really anyone’s fault, I do think there are some things that can be done in order to stop it happening again. After all, the last thing you would want is to go and create a new website and find that the same thing happens again.
The Designer - The designer is the expert in this situation and as such a fair amount of responsibility needs to fall on his/her shoulders. A major part about being a successful web designer is finding out exactly what the client wants and then achieving that result. If the client doesn’t know what they want, it is the designers job to make expert recommendations and help the client understand what direction they should be going in. Furthermore, the designer should develop the relationship in such a way that any problems are discovered before they become a real issue.
The Client – Not all the blame rests with the designer, however, as some clients really can be their own worst enemy. Every once in a while you will meet a client who hates everything but has no idea how it could be improved. They don’t like any suggestions you make, even when they are backed up by citations from other professionals and the whole process becomes very stressful. Before you totally write off the designer as an idiot and a failure it is important to think about whether you were helpful, receptive and so on.
Designing a new website is a little bit like a dance; the designer leads but the client also has to bring a lot of skill and knowledge to the table. Unless you both work together there is going to be a lot of stepping on each others toes – and other people will notice.
